How to prevent graffiti and get rid of it

Rick Radin, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PDT, Saturday, July 9, 2005

The best way to get rid of graffiti is not to get it in the first place, said Merle Goldstone, head of San Francisco's Graffiti Watch program, who has some tips that will help discourage taggers from marking your home or building.

Goldstone suggests that homeowners who are worried about graffiti install a closed-circuit camera in the area that is vulnerable to taggers. Planting ivy or installing a trellis will make the exposed walls unattractive to taggers, as well.

Exposed surfaces can be sprayed or painted with a commercial wax coating such as Graffiti Off and Graffiti Melt. If the surface is tagged, simply hose it off and the graffiti and wax melt away. After the surface dries, reapply the wax to the affected spot to restore protection.

Be sure to report graffiti on nearby buildings to the Department of Public Works. Graffiti that is left in place for more than 24 hours tends to attract more graffiti to the building that's been tagged and to surrounding buildings.

"If we hear about graffiti, we can alert absentee owners to the problem so they can arrange to have it cleaned up," Goldstone said.

If taggers do strike, be prepared with the proper supplies to remove the graffiti quickly.

For natural unpainted surfaces such as brick, spray the graffiti with paint remover, then wash it down with a high-pressure hose, said Brooks Fenton, paint supervisor for the DPW.

Graffiti on an unprotected painted surface needs to be painted over, preferably with a color that closely matches the surrounding paint.

"People tend to do quick jobs and not match the paint," Goldstone said. "Don't follow the outline of the tag, but create a square, fill it in and let the paint blend to create the idea that there's never been a tag."

Property owners looking for the ultimate solution to graffiti can treat their exposed walls to a coating of an epoxy-based paint costing $70 to $100 a gallon, Fenton said.

"This stuff is really bullet-proof," he said. "You spray graffiti remover on it and the tag comes right off. It should look new for at least 10 years."

Gang up on graffiti

To report graffiti or to seek advice about graffiti removal, call the Graffiti Watch program at (415) 282-5326 or write to the graffiti advisory director at the Department of Public Works, San Francisco City Hall, 1 Carlton Goodlett Place, San Francisco 94102.

The Graffiti Advisory Board meets at 5:30 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at City Hall, Room 348. The board's monthly agenda and the text of the graffiti ordinance are available on the Department of Public Works' Web site, sfdpw.com.